Lotsofshi

High-five to twisted humor! I can't really think of any jokes in regard to this line of work, as most of my humor is just full of puns based upon the situation.

I can tell you, that after every job, I seriously do a closing statement a-la Horatio Caine CSI style. My coworkers hate it, and roll their eyes every time.

Example: After cleaning up a scene where a man murdered his dogs then killed himself, I threw out "I guess you could say this is a... Dog Eat Dog world..."

Oh man. I've seen A LOT. It's hard to pinpoint the worst!

The "grossest" per se would have to be an unattended death (natural cause) in a small trailer and the victim wasn't found for over 2 months. I swear, it was a nightmare in that place. Dark, no power, and about 15,000+ flies and maggots everywhere. Flesh dripping from the walls and ceiling. Also, he was a hoarder.

Shotgun suicide. It was certainly a nice introduction to the industry!

Boss: "And you see here? There's so much velocity from that shell at point blank that skull fragments will embed themselves in the wall. Grab the pliers and drywall knife."

Oh absolutely! I do it all the time. Not when the customer is around, of course. But it's all within reason (mostly). It's a coping mechanism of sorts. Have to add humor to the job when you're cleaning up brains from a ceiling all day long.

A good way to help purge any would-be ill thoughts while on the job is to make yourself laugh really hard before initially entering. Morbid? Possibly. But I don't see why my profession should be exempt from laughter. Since taking this job I've taken the "I try to find humor in everything" phrase to another level ;)

1) How'd I get here? I had a desk job that I disliked and on a whim, applied to this job with the help of someone I knew.

2) Certifications? Surprisingly, there are no "required" certifications to work in this field besides OSHA standards (Blood borne pathogens, PPE - Personal Protective Equipment, etc).

3) Ongoing education? There's always room for improvement so any new tool or technique will come about we (CTS Decon's) are willing to try.

4) Squeamish? I suppose the first time I smelled a decomp (unattended death) that surpassed 1 month of rotting away in the summer sun.

5) What do I like most about the work? I'd have to say the challenge and a fascination with the extraordinary. Also, helping grieving families in their darkest hour is very rewarding as well.

6) Job referrals? Yes, we do get a large portion of jobs from police referrals. However, a lot also come from medical examiner's office, funeral home directors, and word of mouth too.

Edit: To whomever gave me Gold, thank you so much! Much appreciated!